Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, and Canadian clean energy company Carbon Engineering said Tuesday they will jointly proceed with engineering and design of the world’s largest direct air capture and sequestration facility to be located in the Permian Basin. The companies are developing a facility designed to capture 500 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year to be used in Occidental’s enhanced oil recovery and then permanently stored underground. Carbon Engineering developed a direct air capture pilot plant near Vancouver.
Richard Jackson, president of OLCV, said, “Using atmospheric CO2 for oil recovery greatly reduces the net addition of CO2 to the atmosphere from oil production and fuel use and opens a pathway to producing fully carbon-neutral or even net-negative fuels.” Construction is expected to begin in 2021, and the plant could begin operating within two years.